Successful SME web design through consumer focus groups

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to pursue two major objectives. First, to identify the key design variables for building successful transactional SME (Small Medium Enterprises) websites. Second, the transactional relevance of each key design variable is tested in order to establish priorities.

Design/methodology/approach

The present paper is developed through seven consumer focus groups. Two approaches were used: an ethnographic summary of each focus group (qualitative approach) and a systematic coding procedure (quantitative approach).

Findings

The findings indicate that a transactional website should have three main strong points: it must be secure; price information should be provided; and a wide range of images should be shown. But not all these factors are equally important.

Practical implications

These results lead one to recommend that managers should expend more effort to make the website more secure and detailed in terms of content. Second, even e‐services have not obtained the highest relevance but this does not mean that service quality is less important.

Originality/value

Most studies to date have focused on dealing with different design elements in isolation. In this framework, the role of website security or navigability has been the most studied element in the literature. However, comparison between the different design elements is still lacking, especially from a qualitative research perspective. This work tries to cover that gap, by providing a hierarchy of website design factors based on their capacity to stimulate SME sales.

Citation

Küster, I. and Vila, N. (2011), "Successful SME web design through consumer focus groups", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 132-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656711111101728